Mitchell'sStory

At only three months old, Mitchell Bays Turner was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. The first symptoms: bruises on his legs the day that he was baptized at Myers Park United Methodist Church. The next day, his mother took him to the pediatrician, and a blood test showed that Mitchell was anemic and had an extremely high white blood cell count. The pediatrician sent them directly to Novant Hemby Children’s Hospital where Mitchell was diagnosed with cancer and given only a 40% chance of survival.

During his two-year battle, Mitchell achieved remission, but later relapsed. He died just weeks after his second birthday. Mitchell’s short life was filled with sickness, long hospital stays, harsh chemotherapy drugs, isolation and constant medical care. Throughout it all, his family placed their trust and confidence in God and the medical teams at Blume Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clinic, which is now a St. Jude Affiliate Clinic and Novant Health Hemby Children's Hospital.

Mitchell lived only 774 days. He spent 184 days in the hospital. When he was not in the hospital, he made daily visits to the pediatric oncology clinic. He received 75 blood transfusions and 417 chemotherapy treatments. He was forced to stay in isolation to protect him from germs and other illness for 457 days.

Mitchell is no longer sick and is safe in Heaven. His parents, Meg McElwain and Frank Turner, III, believe that God used Mitchell’s short life and will use his legacy in a special way related to research and education about pediatric illness.

Mitchell’s Fund supports the social needs — such as utility bills and mortgage payments — of families with children facing the crisis of life threatening pediatric illnesses. The heart of Mitchell’s Fund is pediatric cancer, but the Fund also supports families grappling with mental health illness, sickle-cell anemia, extreme prematurity, chronic diseases and more.

One hundred percent of all contributions to the Fund are used to pay for living expenses, counseling services and travel for families of very sick children. When a child is sick, life goes on in many ways. Mitchell’s Fund’s mission is to alleviate some of the financial stress parents face so they can focus 100 percent of their energy on caring for and being with their sick child.